


The Silent Short

by GretchenSinister



Series: Wishing on a Star AU [3]
Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Restaurant, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-13
Updated: 2020-11-13
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:14:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27544420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GretchenSinister/pseuds/GretchenSinister
Summary: incurablenecromantic asked: "Predictably enough, I'd shriek some if you wrote the surely Jim Dale-saturated Sandy POV from anything in the Wishing On A Star AU."This was actually quite difficult, since I finished Pushing Daisies months ago and couldn’t quite pull that voice out again. But! The premise is that Wishing On a Star is a movie, so here is Sandy’s point of view–AKA the silent, animated short that inspired the full-length live-action movie.
Series: Wishing on a Star AU [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1667509
Kudos: 2
Collections: Blacksand Short Fics





	The Silent Short

**Author's Note:**

  * For [IncurableNecromantic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/IncurableNecromantic/gifts).



> Originally posted on Tumblr on 8/31/2015.

“Does Jim Dale narrate the dub of this, too?”

“No—this is the silent, animated short that sort of inspired the movie. Didn’t you know about it? You were complaining about us not watching the French version and—”

“Well, I—I generally like to experience cinema purely, without all the folderol that marketers seem insistent on adding to DVDs.”

“Okay, then I guess we won’t watch it.”

“…I didn’t say that.”

* * *

The short opens with a night sky filled with shooting stars. The shot pans down to a narrow house slotted between many other narrow houses. A zoom on the door of this house, and then the doorstep, to reveal a basket holding a chubby, bright-eyed baby with a halo of blond curls. The baby opens his mouth to cry, but, based on the background music, is very surprised when no sound comes out.

The curtains on the front window twitch aside to show a man and a woman looking up at the meteor shower. They hold a large paper in front of them and point excitedly between it and the sky. The woman then happens to look over towards the door, and exclaims in surprise as she notices the baby. She and the man drop the paper (shown to be a star chart) and rush away to the door.

The woman picks up the baby as the man looks through the basket for clues. He finds nothing, and looks at the woman and shrugs. She shrugs too, and they both plant kisses on the baby’s cheeks.

A montage follows: the baby learns to walk, the baby grows into a child. He is happy, he plays in the sand, he draws, he sends toy car after toy car down the bannister. His adoptive parents clearly love each other, and him. The house is shown to be filled with star charts and other paraphernalia that shows a chaotic appreciation of both astronomy and astrology. The child’s parents watch him closely, making notes in a little book. They celebrate his birthday at different times each year—they cannot figure out what sign he is. Even as he grows older and develops a definitive interest in cooking, no sign is determined.

He does not neglect the importance of the stars, though. It is not only the season that guides him in what he makes, but the position of the celestial bodies, as well. As a teenager, he is perhaps the only cook in his city that accounts for Mercury in retrograde while making a sauce. And while his methods may be unconventional, his parents and their guests approve wholeheartedly.

After some years opens a restaurant. There are several grand openings, to help correlate the restaurant’s sign with his, whatever it might be. He shows his parents his first few good reviews and they embrace him. Clearly, the multiple openings (memorialized with photos on their walls, showing celebrations in the pale colors of spring, the rich greens of summer, the blazing reds and oranges of autumn, and the sweet sugary snow of winter) have paid off.

But, his parents ask him now, what about more delicate matters? What about love? They want him to be happy, but without knowing the day and hour of his birth, how can he find someone compatible?

The young man, still very blond, still very bright-eyed, and now as appealingly round as any drawn character has ever been, smiles at his parents and places his hand over his heart and gestures to the early morning light coming in through the window.

_I will trust in the stars; I will trust in fate_ , he signs (all the comprehensible dialogue in the short has been in sign). He looks at his watch and startles. _Farewell Mama, Papa! I will be late if I do not leave now!_

Exterior of the house, a bright yellow scooter in front of it. The young man hurries down the stairs, pulls a glittering gold helmet onto his head, and drives off fast enough to leave skid marks on the street.

What follows is a gorgeous, thrilling sequence from the young man’s perspective as he speeds through a city lush with springtime, dripping with color on flowers, clothes, automobiles, houses. The music is inspired throughout the reckless panorama, and as it flies by, one almost misses the red signal the young man ignores entirely, sending him almost into the path of the one individual in the city who isn’t wearing color—in fact, is dressed in stark black.

The camera abruptly draws back as the young man collides with a planter full of daisies. The man in black is staring at him as he takes off his helmet. He shakes out his hair, turns, and smiles at the man he almost ran over. The man in black stares back, and we finally see him fully. He is very tall, very thin, with a beaky nose and a look of utter astonishment on his face. He is also quite handsome, even if he seems to be developing some frown lines quite early.

The young man very subtly makes the sign for _fate_ , as a question, but he does not want to wait for answers now. His restaurant is something he already loves, and he cannot be late.

And yet—he will encourage fate, just a little. He waves and winks at the man in black before speeding away again.

A bustling little kitchen montage follows, taking the young man from the kitchen door at the beginning of the day to the end of the evening at the door to the dining room. One of the waitresses is telling him a guest would like to meet him. He loves doing so, and so he follows her out to the table. At that table is his beautiful, thin, man in black. To say the young man is pleased to see him again is a profound understatement, and even if they seem so different at first, well—who is he to argue with fate?

They shake hands, providing the final moment for a star iris-in.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments from Tumblr:
> 
> incurablenecromantic reblogged this from gretchensinister: Oh this is so totally lovely! I can absolutely imagine this being some sweet little Pixar piece. And of course Sandy was a star-baby raised by hippie astronomers. Very, very cute! #i love it! #thank you so much for doing this #it definitely has that kind of short film flow #and i like the idea that this didn't come from just one place #for an absolute shit sandy is terribly spiritual


End file.
